Roll Down the Smoke Screen
by wigginluvr
Summary: "Heath?" asked Auggie in disbelief. He felt his impassive, lighthearted façade slipping, being dragged down by this particular, not altogether unwelcome blow from his deranged past. Oneshot, for now...


**So, I was listening to the Killers, and watching the movie "The Losers" (loved Chris Evans in that, hated Roque, cried when Pooch got shot, cried when Pooch went back for his son's birth, wasn't too crazy about Clay, and wanted to give Cougar a hug, because he **_**is **_**really just a big teddy bear), and this came to me… **

**USA owns Covert Affairs.**

_Dig me out from this thorn tree/Help me bury my shame/Keep my eyes from the fire/They can't handle the flame/Grace cut out from my brothers/When most of them fell/I carry it well_

_-Sweet Talk, the Killers_

Roll Down the Smoke Screen

_Auggie surveyed his cards quickly, then put them carefully back down on the top of the wooden crate, slid a chunky black combat knife out of his leg sheath, tossed it on the crate next to his cards, and leaned back with a smile on his face. "Alright," he said, looking around at his team in satisfaction. "Bets down." _

_A man across from him chuckled. That was Wendy, always the confident one. "You sure you wanna do that, Aug?" He shrugged to himself haughtily. "Okay. Suit yourself." He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a sleek back Swiss Army knife, tossed it down onto the crate. _

_The very sunburned man next to him whistled, leaning back with his hands out flat in front of him as if to steady himself. Bobby never had been one to throw everything in. "Whoo," he breathed. "I'm out, man. I'm out. This is getting way too serious." He threw his cards down and shoved his chair back, kicking up a little plume of gravelly sand. _

_Auggie laughed. "Chicken," he crowed. "B-bock, bock, baaawk." _

_If Bobby hadn't been so sunburned he would've blushed, but instead he just turned a sickly shade of purple. "Aw, shut up, man," he said, but didn't pick up his cards. _

_Heath Jones, all blindingly white teeth and perfect blonde hair, smiled and shook his head, tilting his sunglasses down so that he could look around at them all. "I'll meet that, Wendy," he said, placing his cards delicately on the crate. His Mag10 fell onto the crate with a loud clunk, and his teammates _oohed _and _aahed.

"_You got balls, Hollywood," said Wendy appreciatively. _

"_Damn straight," said Heath. _

"_Okay, guys," Auggie leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, looking up through his shaggy bangs at Heath, then at Wendy. "Flip __em."_

_All three of them smiled wolfishly and flipped their cards at the same time. _

"_Aww," said Auggie, wincing as he saw Heath's cards._

_Wendy did the same, and Bobby cackled jubilantly. "Hey!" he called. "And Hollywood wins again! Who would've thought!" _

_Auggie glared. "Don't rub it in, Bobby. _ You're_ the one who wimped out." _

_Bobby quieted, as Heath reached for his Mag and shoved the other guys' knives into his spacious pants' pockets. "Cry all you want, boys," Heath said. "But I never loose." _

_Auggie kicked Heath's shins around the corner of the crate, and laughed uproariously with the others as he fell from his rickety wooden stool, clutching his rapidly bruising legs. _

_Wendy saw it first. _

"_Hey," he said, stopping in his tracks. "What the hell is _that_?"_

_Auggie jogged up next to him, eyes following the line of his arm to the black heap that he was pointing to. Well, well, a black, furry heap in the middle of nowhere. That wasn't exactly normal. "Huh," said Auggie. "I dunno. Why don't you and Bobby go check it out? I'll go get Hollywood."_

"_Okay." Wendy turned, called over to Bobby, who was a few yards off, standing a little ways down the road. _

_Auggie took off at an easy run, his booted feet pounding on the gravel mountain road. "Oi, Hollywood," he yelled down a section of the slope that was gentler, but still barren and scraggly, cupping his hands around his mouth. Heath looked up at him, squinting in the sun. _

"_What?" _

"_Come on up quick, we got something!" _

_Heath was up the mountainside in under thirty seconds, sliding his silver anti-flash sunglasses up his nose. "So damn sunny," he muttered. _

_Auggie laughed. "Just come on, man."_

_Heath grumbled, but followed behind Auggie, as they took off jogging back down the road. _

_They rounded a bend in the mountainside just in time to hear Wendy say, "It's a dead dog," and to hear Bobby shout, "No! Wendy, don't touch that, it's a b–_

_Then the IED went off. _

_Auggie flickered back into consciousness. He was pretty damn sure that someone had decided to split his skull with an axe, and he couldn't see a thing other that the intense, blinding white light that seemed to blanket all his senses. _

_Suddenly there was a very quiet rustling from beside him, and then his head was being lifted into someone's lap. He mustered the strength to groan, and let his head loll to the side._

"_Shh…" came a voice, as if through a long tunnel. "Don't try to move, Aug, just stay still." There was the crackling of a radio. "Yeah," came that same voice. "Someone planted an IED, they knew we were here. Bobby and Wendy are dead, and Aug's down, I think his eyes are shot…" He sounded like he was trying to hold back sobs. "Just get here – I don't care how – get here before I loose Auggie too…"_

All of that came back to Auggie in one painful wave when he heard the man's voice.

That voice, sucked out of his past and thrust unceremoniously into his present, that voice that dredged up so much hurt, such a sense of loss, of emptiness. Auggie's knees weakened, and for a moment he feared he would crumple to the ground, but was able to compose himself, and direct his shock to the widening of his eyes, the slackening of his jaw.

He felt his impassive, lighthearted façade slipping, being dragged down by this particular blow from his deranged past.

He leaned heavily against the doorframe, letting out a low sigh. "Hollywood?"

"Yeah, Aug."

Auggie ran a hand through his hair. "What're you doing here?" he asked, his voice cracking.

Heath laughed lightly. "I was in town, needed a place to stay…" he trailed off. "Crap," he declared. "Just give me a hug, man."

Auggie did, clapping him on the back, tears spilling from their eyes.

"Where've you been?" laughed Auggie, dry sobs still forcing their way up his throat.

"You know," Heath said, equally chocked up, still gripping Auggie's shoulder with one hand. "Places."

Auggie snorted. "Places. Yeah, right."

Heath laughed, shook Auggie's shoulder roughly, and then let his hand fall to his side. "Look, I hate to ask, Aug, but can you spare a couch? All the hotels are booked, and -

"I'd be angry if you _didn't _ask. Come in."

**Gawd, I love Auggie. What do you guys think? Should I do more of Auggie and the gang?**

**Tell me what you think, and review if you liked it :)**


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